Monster Photos: Monster Truck Thunder Slam – Fort Wayne, IN 2011

Event: Monster Truck Thunder Slam
Venue: Allen County War Memorial Coliseum
Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana
Date: March 27th, 2011
Photographer: Michael Harry

Lineup: Big Dawg (Dale Gerding), Desperado (Drew Haygood), Ghost Ryder (Larry Quick), Tail Gator (Doug Noelke) [Read more…]

Monster Truck Racing Super Series Returns to Sedalia

(Springfield, Missouri) The Monster Truck Racing Super Series roars into the Missouri State Fairgrounds Matthewson Exhibition Center for one wild, heart-stopping weekend Friday & Saturday, March 4th-5th at 7:30PM each night. Witness the top monster trucks in all out war as Tail Gator, Big Dawg, Martial Law and Heart Breaker go head to head in no holds barred, side by side, wheel to wheel & Chicago-style racing competition. You’ll also see the monsters in the wildest freestyle competition ever and a monster truck wheelie contest!

The Monster Truck Racing Super Series returns to Sedalia, Missouri next weekend!

In addition to the monster truck competition, you’ll see Tuff Trux as pro stadium truck drivers direct from TV fly over an obstacle course in all out motorized mayhem. As if that wasn’t enough, pro quad racers will also face off in crazy motorcross action. In addition, kids of all ages will have the opportunity to ride in a real monster truck, the Sergeant Smash monster Hummer.

Come to the free Pit Party Friday night from 6:00-7:00PM where you can meet the drivers, get autographs and see these monster machines up close (valid event ticket required). You’ve seen this motorized mayhem on TV, now experience it live!  Let your senses experience the madness by being a part of the wildest weekend of the year as monsters, tuff trux & pro quad racing comes to Sedalia. Get your tickets now while kids’ tickets are half price!  Tickets are just $20 for adults & $10 for kids. All tickets higher at the gate. Advance tickets are on sale now at all Break Time convenience stores.

TMB TV: Original Series Episode 4.1 – Bossier City, LA 2011

Event: Monster Nation
Venue: CenturyTel Center
Location: Bossier City, Louisiana
Date: January 14th-15th, 2010
Host: Ross Z. Bonar
Videographers: Kaedon Berry

Lineup: Barbarian (Devin Jones), Big Dawg (Dale Gerding), Equalizer (Mike Hawkins), Hot Tamale (Isaiah Morales), Razin Kane (JR McNeal), Tail Gator (Doug Noelke) [Read more…]

Monster Photos – Monster Nation – Bossier City, LA 2011

Event: Monster Nation
Venue: CenturyTel Center
Location: Bossier City, Louisiana
Date: January 14th-15th, 2011
Photographer: Ross Z. Bonar

Lineup: Barbarian (Devin Jones), Big Dawg (Dale Gerding), Equalizer (Mike Hawkins), Hot Tamale (Isaiah Morales), Razin Kane (JR McNeal), Tail Gator (Doug Noelke) [Read more…]

TMB TV: ActionTracks Episode 1.8 – Year In Review

Event: 2010 Year In Review
Host: Chris Parrish
Videographer: Chris Parrish

Lineup: All of the best action you’ve seen on ActionTracks in 2010 featuring some of the best trucks in the world! [Read more…]

TMB TV Episode 3.10 – Pontiac, MI

Event: Monster Truck Fall Shootout
Venue: Pontiac Silverdome
Location: Pontiac, Michigan
Date: November 13th, 2010
Host: Ross Z. Bonar
Videographers: Colby Marshall, Kaedon Berry, Chris Parrish

Lineup: Airborne Ranger (Joe Cypher), Bar’s Leaks Eliminator (Greg Adams), Big Dawg (Dale Gerding), Bounty Hunter (Ben Winslow), Raminator (Mark Hall), Rammunition (Mat Dishman), Rislone Defender (Zach Adams), Shell Camino (Shelley Kujat), Tail Gator (Doug Noelke), Virginia Giant (Diehl Wilson), War Wagon (Andy Hoffman) [Read more…]

Monster Truck Fall Shootout – Pontiac, MI – 11/13/10

Event:  Monster Truck Fall Shootout
Venue:  Pontiac Silverdome
Location:  Pontiac, Michigan
Date:  November 13th, 2010
Photographer:  Paul M. Harry

Lineup: Airborne Ranger (Joe Cypher), Bar’s Leaks Eliminator (Greg Adams), Big Dawg (Dale Gerding), Bounty Hunter (Ben Winslow), Raminator (Mark Hall), Rammunition (Mat Dishman), Rislone Defender (Zach Adams), Shell Camino (Shelley Kujat), Tail Gator (Doug Noelke), Virginia Giant (Diehl Wilson), War Wagon (Andy Hoffman) [Read more…]

Monster Truck Fall Shootout – Pontiac, MI – 11/13/10

Event: Monster Truck Fall Shootout
Venue: Pontiac Silverdome
Location: Pontiac, Michigan
Date:  November 13th, 2010
Photographer: Ross Z. Bonar

Lineup:  Airborne Ranger (Joe Cypher), Bar’s Leaks Eliminator (Greg Adams), Big Dawg (Dale Gerding), Bounty Hunter (Ben Winslow), Raminator (Mark Hall), Rammunition (Mat Dishman), Rislone Defender (Zach Adams), Shell Camino (Shelley Kujat), Tail Gator (Doug Noelke), Virginia Giant (Diehl Wilson), War Wagon (Andy Hoffman) [Read more…]

Dishman, Noelke & Winslow Winners at the Silverdome

Monster trucks returned to the legendary Pontiac Silverdome for the second time in 2010 as Silverdome Events presented the Inaugural Monster Truck Fall Shootout last night. Eleven top trucks competed in racing, obstacle course and freestyle contests as several drivers returned to the Silverdome for the first time in many years and others made their first appearance at one of the most historic venues in monster truck history. The return of the Silverdome has been one of the best stories of the year as Silverdome Events attempts to establish yearly spring and fall monster truck events for hopefully many years to come.

With a lineup of generally more racing-focused teams and drivers, the “Tornado-style” course was sure to produce some great action and did not disappoint. Mark Hall in the Raminator was the odds on favorite going into the weekend and lived up to expectations in his round one bye run, setting a blistering pace. Only Doug Noelke in Tail Gator appeared to be in Hall’s league through the first round. Trouble would strike for Raminator in round two during a defeat of Ben Winslow in Bounty Hunter as the motor gernaded ending Hall’s evening in heartbreaking fashion.

Hall’s exit left Noelke as the favorite and he marched his way to the finals, dispatching Big Dawg, Rammunition and Bar’s Leaks Eliminator along the way. Rookie Mat Dishman in Rammunition would return as the fast loser in the semi-finals and defeated Bounty Hunter, who was replacing Raminator. That setup a re-match from round two as the veteran Noelke would take on the rookie Dishman who had been getting faster every round.

The grand finale of racing saw both trucks neck and neck all the way to the final turn when Noelke bobbled, hitting a turning car and having to do some fancy driving to keep from rolling the Gator. Dishman would have tough to beat even without the missing and he powered Rammunition across the line to capture the huge win in front of the over 100 RAM Trucks represetatives on hand for the event. The win was even more special in that it was Dishman’s first ever racing victory in monster trucks.

Following the big racing competition would be a special timed obstacle course challenge where drivers would follow a set path around the obstacles on the track against the clock. Bounty Hunter and Rammunition were quick and Diehl Wilson in Virginia Giant laid down a great pass, but in the end no one would touch Noelke this time around as he powered Tail Gator to victory.

The evening’s big finish would be the freestyle competition as Shelley Kujat in Shell Camino kicked things off with a solid run to set the bar. Zach Adams highlighted his run in the Rislone Defender with a great slap wheelie while father Greg Adams in Bar’s Leaks Eliminator laid down a solid effort as well. Diehl Wilson had the ground shaking with some incredible donuts and Dale Gerding in Big Dawg walked a couple of slap wheelies across the center of the floor. Mat Dishman looked to follow his racing win with a big freestyle but it wasn’t to be as a hard landing snapped the right front wheel off Rammunition.

One of the first contending runs of the night came from what you would probably say was the top performing truck overall on the evening, that being the Tail Gator. Doug Noelke hit a huge slap wheelie across the center of the floor combined with some big air and a wild, wheel out the window cyclone. The Gator would maintain the lead in freestyle the majority of the night.

One driver who fell short of Noelke’s score was Andy Hoffman and War Wagon. Hoffman had what many thought may have been the best run of the evening as he kept up a great pace, hitting everything on the floor. War Wagon had some of the biggest moves as well as Andy cross-threaded one of the big van stacks for the best vertical launch of freestyle at one point and then finished his run with a huge cross-thread reverse move on the same stack.

Noelke’s score would eventually be tied as Joe Cypher in the Airborne Ranger laid down a great freestyle performance with some of the best moves of the night. Cypher hit a couple big slap wheelies across the center of the floor and was the only driver to cross-thread the big blue stack.

The final truck to compete was none other than Ben Winslow in the Bounty Hunter. “Bobo” as he is often referred to as, has been riding a great hot streak since joining 2Xtreme Racing with a big racing win in Montreal and sweeps of smaller shows in Bounty Hunter. Suprisingly Winslow was having trouble getting a good rhythym going for the majority of the run as he tried to work with well used obstacles. But just as time was coming to a close, Winslow launched Bounty Hunter in some of the most extreme air we’ve seen all year long. The tough landing would end the performance but it was enough for the judges to proclaim the victory for Bounty Hunter in yet another huge success for driver Ben Winslow.

The TMB crew had a great time having the opportunity to return to the Silverdome for the second time in 2010 and the privilege to be able to bring you coverage from this historic venue is one we greatly appreciate. For that we send a big thanks to Ryan Westlake and everyone with Silverdome Events for their hospitality. The final TMB TV episode of 2010 will featured the Monster Truck Fall Shootout and will premiere Wednesday, December 8th at 8PM Eastern. Colby, Kaedon, Chris and Ross did some great work on this episode and also be watching for huge photo galleries from Ross and Paul Harry. Stay tuned as plenty of great coverage from the Silverdome is coming your way right here on TMB!

Countdown to the Silverdome Q&A – Doug Noelke

One week from now monster trucks will return to one of the most historically significant venues in the history of the sport as the Pontiac Silverdome hosts the 1st Annual Monster Truck Fall Shootout!! 11 trucks are scheduled to compete in racing and freestyle including Bounty Hunter, Raminator, Tail Gator, Virginia Giant, War Wagon, Big Dawg, Rammunition, Shell Camino, Bar’s Leaks Eliminator, Airborne Ranger and Rislone Defender.

The return of the Silverdome has been one of the biggest and best stories of 2010 and TMB is excited to return for our 10th and final episode of TMB TV Season 3. We’ll cover all the action with three camera angles and two huge photo galleries. With tickets at only $13 at www.SilverdomeTickets.com, this event will surely be one of the best values of the year.

As we countdown the days of this final week leading up to the big event, we’ll interview one of the big personalities and get their thoughts on the Monster Truck Fall Shootout. Check back every day for another quick Q&A with one of the event’s big stars!

11/08/10: Q&A w/Doug Noelke | Countdown Status: 5 Days to Go!

TMB: TMB’s Countdown to the Silverdome Q&A series continues today as we talk to two-time Monster Nationals Racing Champion Doug Noelke, owner of the Big Dawg 4×4 team out of Union, Missouri and driver of the Tail Gator monster truck. Doug, we’ve been starting off talking to each driver about their past experience at the Silverdome – have you had a chance to run there before?

DN: As a matter of fact we have, and it was actually one of the first few events we ever did when we were first getting started back in 2001. The first year in 2000 when we finished the truck we only ran about 4-5 shows so as we were getting ready to start our first winter season, they had given us a few smaller Monster Jam events. Well two weeks before the first arena show we were scheduled to go to, they called and told us they needed us to go to the Silverdome the week before that – our first ever indoor show! So that whole weekend was the kind of “deer in the headlights” experience as we were there at this historic venue for this huge show right out of the gate. But all in all, it went really well that weekend and it was a great experience.

Doug Noelke runs the Big Dawg at the Silverdome in 2001 – courtesy www.BigDawg4x4.com

TMB: It’s really neat to hear some of these great stories, with Diehl Wilson having won at some of the classic Silverdome events in the past and now hearing that your first ever indoor show was here at the Silverdome. So its 10 years later now and you have built your team into one of the top teams in the industry – how exciting is it to be going back as one of the favorites to win?

DN: Well when the building closed, that was pretty sad to see because of all the history there, so its really exciting to have the chance to go back there when you wouldn’t have thought that was possible. We’ll try not to get too caught up in that though, the key is to try and stay focused, especially in racing, on being consistent and not making mistakes. As good as you may be running, you still need plenty of good luck to get the win.

TMB: One of the things we heard from Ryan Westlake in his interview was that he is excited about giving trucks the opportunity to run in a stadium style setting that may not get that opportunity all that often. When was the last time you ran a stadium and how much more challenging is a stadium course?

DN: I’d say the last time we ran at a big stadium was back in 2005 at the RCA Dome for Family Events. We took the racing win that night and had a pretty good freestyle too. The obstacles will be bigger, that’s for sure, but we still see that kind of stuff outdoors at places like Bristol and Charlotte. We’ve gotten to do a lot of the Monster Truck Challenge and MLMT stuff the past few years, so we do pretty well on big racing courses. With freestyle, you’ve just got to go out there, have some fun, not worrying about tearing things up, run hard and try not to lay an egg.

TMB: Well Doug, it was great to talk to you as we lead up to the big shows and we’re really looking forward to seeing great performances by yourself in Tail Gator and Dale in Big Dawg this weekend. Let’s wrap up by having you sum up what a win at the Silverdome on Saturday would mean to you.

DN: We’re finishing up the year with one of our biggest shows of the year – it’s been a pretty good season, it would be great to cap it off with a big win. Plus all the nostalgia at this place, all the history, that just adds to it even more. Hopefully this event goes great and they can keep the facility open and keep doing these events every year.

The Monster Truck Fall Shootout is this Saturday, November 13th – 11 of the nation’s top trucks compete in racing and freestyle at the historic Pontiac Silverdome! Advance tickets are only $13, all fees included at www.SilverdomeTickets.com – get yours now!

Video Highlights – Muskogee, OK – 10/09-10/10

Event:  Monster Truck Show
Venue:   Outlaw Motor Speedway
Location:  Muskogee, Oklahoma
Date:  October 9th-10th, 2010
Videographer:  Kaedon Berry

Lineup:  Amsoil Shock Therapy (Jon Zimmer), El Matador (Daron Basl), Excaliber (Chris Lagana), King Krunch (David Smith), Tail Gator (Doug Noelke) [Read more…]

4-Wheel Jamboree Nationals – Indianapolis, IN – 09/17-19/10

Event:  4-Wheel Jamboree Nationals
Venue:  Indiana State Fairgrounds
Location:  Indianapolis, Indiana
Date:  September 17th-19th, 2010
Photographer:  Paul M. Harry

Lineup:  Avenger (Jim Koehler/Rich Hilgendorf), Brutus (Chris Bergeron), Holman’s Beast (Bobby Holman), Ms. Bigfoot #11 (Amber Walker), Retro Bigfoot #16 (Dan Runte), Raminator (Mark Hall), Rammunition (Geremie Dishman), Tail Gator (Doug Noelke) [Read more…]

TMB TV Episode 3.7 – Indianapolis, IN

Event:  4-Wheel Jamboree Nationals
Venue:  Indiana State Fairgrounds
Location:  Indianapolis, Indiana
Date:  September 17th-19th, 2010
Host:  Ross Z. Bonar
Videographers:  Colby Marshall, Kaedon Berry, Chris Parrish

Lineup:  Airdog Diesel (Dave Radzierez), Avenger (Jim Koehler / Rich Hilgendorf), General Tire (Chris Bergeron), High Maintenance (Jocelyn Perrin), Holman’s Beast (Bobby Holman), Ms Bigfoot #11 (Amber Walker), Raminator (Mark Hall), Rammunition (Mat Dishman), Retro Bigfoot #16 (Dan Runte), Tail Gator (Doug Noelke) [Read more…]

Monster Truck Fall Shootout at the Silverdome

(Pontiac, MI) Monster Trucks return to the Silverdome for an inaugural Monster Truck Fall Shootout!! This event will be a premiere motorsports show featuring monster trucks and quad racing and it’s going to be an annual event for the fans of high energy, high-impact motorsports entertainment. Discounted early bird tickets go on sale Wednesday October 14th. A $2 off discount per ticket will automatically be given for adult and kids tickets when purchased on line by November 12th.

The 1st Annual Fall Shootout is bringing monster trucks back to the Silverdome and includes a superstar lineup featuring Bounty Hunter, Raminator, Tail Gator, Virginia Giant, War Wagon, Big Dawg, Rammunition, Bar’s Leaks Eliminator, Airborne Ranger and Rislone Defender.

“We are very excited to start another motor sports tradition here at the Silverdome as we are filling dates at the dome with renewed life,” said Ryan Westlake, the event coordinator for the event. “In the Silverdome’s past life, monster truck events were second only to the Lions as far as annual attendance. We look forward to bringing things full circle with a fun and entertaining monster truck event that is easy to get to, easy to park at and affordable for the entire family.” Monster Trucks are the ultimate in automotive “Destruction.”

Extreme Air, Colossal Sky-Wheelies, Thundering Pogos and Devastating Crashes which are all part of the show as these 10,000 pound machines will fly through the air and around the stadium in true Silverdome style. The Monster Truck Fall Shootout will take place on November 13th, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets go on sale October 14th and will be available at the Silverdome box office, online at www.SilverdomeTickets.com or by calling 248-338-2500. All tickets are general admission. Please call the box office for information regarding Family and Friends Suite Experience rental suites at (248) 338-2500.

All tickets purchased online in advance will include FREE entry into the Fan Appreciation Pit Party, where fans can walk the track, take photos, get autographs from the competitors and have an unforgettable experience before the event at the Pit Party. Fans holding a pit pass and an event ticket will be allowed onto the floor of the Silverdome from 4-6 pm before the event.

Free pit passes will be included with all tickets purchased online through November 12th. Day
of purchases and walk-up Pit Passes will be $5 at the door.

TMB TV: ActionTracks Episode 1.3 – Concord, NC (Freestyle)

Event:  Back to School Monster Truck Bash
Venue:  The Dirt Track @ Charlotte Motor Speedway
Location:  Concord, North Carolina
Date:  August 14th, 2010
Host:  Chris Parrish
Videographer:  Chris Parrish

Lineup: Avenger (Jim Koehler), Backdraft (Jeremy Slifko), Brutus (Chris Bergeron), Equalizer (Mike Hawkins), Hot Tamale (Isaiah Morales), Mopar Magic (Carl Van Horn), Raminator (Mark Hall), Stone Crusher (Steve Sims), Tail Gator (Doug Noelke), War Wizard (Randy Moore) [Read more…]